Leader flags homelessness, suicide

He added that there has been much progress for the LGBTQ community in the past two years but much more needs to be done. “”It’s really important to continue to march in pride. We know that far too many homeless youth are from the LGBT community, we know the rate of teenage suicide is four times as much as in other communities, and eight times as much where the kids don’t have supportive parents.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wiped his eyes as he delivered a formal apology to LGBTQ people in the House of Commons on November 28, 2017. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press/file)

PM thanked for apology

The head of a local peer-support group thanked the prime minister for the apology he offered to the LGBTQ community in the House of Commons in November 2017 for past discrimination. At times emotional, Trudeau had apologized for decades of “state-sponsored, systematic oppression and rejection.”

In the years after the Second World War and through the Cold War era, many public servants and military members faced criminal charges, firings and other discrimination because of their sexual orientation.

A person dressed as Freddie Mercury blows a kiss while attending the 2018 Pride Parade in Vancouver. Parades celebrating LGBTQ people are held annually in many cities in Canada. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)